CINCINNATI -- With organized team activities (OTAs) in full swing for the Cincinnati Bengals, we'll be spending the next couple weeks taking a position-by-position look at where their offseason roster currently stands.
Let's begin at quarterback, where Andy Dalton has a few challengers. Will their presence be enough to legitimately push him these next few months?
QUARTERBACK
QBs on the roster: 4. Dalton, AJ McCarron, Terrelle Pryor, Josh Johnson
Expected QB rotation: Unlike other positions that will have true rotations to mix up looks and to keep players fresh, the quarterbacks won't by cycled in and out over the course of regular-season games. But the position is nonetheless headed by Dalton, the $115 million man who will be taking home more than six percent of the Bengals' overall salary cap this season. Behind him likely will be McCarron, the second-year backup who received his share of second-team backup snaps during last week's open OTA practice.
Underneath McCarron appears to be Pryor, the veteran who entered the league the same season as Dalton. Next up then will be Johnson, the former Bengals reserve who returned in free agency after a year away in San Francisco.
QBs' offseason goals: Dalton's No. 1 priority this offseason will be figuring out a way to cut down on the turnovers. Interceptions have been the biggest bugaboo throughout his career, as his 66 career pickoffs can attest. That's an average of about 17 per season. Brett Favre, who also was known for being a feast or famine passer at times, averaged the same number during his 20-year career.
While Dalton will be focused the next three months on limiting the turnovers, his backups will be trying to figure out ways to push him while also keeping their spots on the roster. McCarron in particular has already said he had plans -- politely -- to let Dalton know he wasn't the only quarterback in the locker room. A noted competitor, the former college football national champion wants to shake up the depth chart, although he knows the reality is there's little he can do in that regard. McCarron isn't naive enough to think Dalton really can be unseated, but he still wants to play well enough in the coming months to give coaches comfort in knowing the offense would be just fine in case something happened to the starter.
A veteran who is hopeful about finally sticking with an NFL team, Pryor also knows the Bengals have their starter. But still, he believes he's a better signal-caller than his recent rocky past has indicated. After impressing in a tryout during Cincinnati's rookie camp last month, Pryor convinced coaches the desperation with which he plays needs to be seen and replicated by others. He'll certainly push Dalton hard.
But will all this competition really get Dalton going? After all, he has the comfort of knowing the position is his to lose and he has virtually no way of relinquishing his job. As much as some fans may want him to feel pressed, the fact is, Dalton has relatively little stress. If he's feeling any pressure, it likely comes from him knowing he has practically no reason to fail this season. He's getting a pair of jolts to his offense with Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert's returns; two pass-catchers who missed essentially all of last season. He also has a complete returning offensive line, and the league's sixth-ranked rushing attack as support. With that level of continuity and talent around him, he better win.
